Grant Private Wealth Management Inc Invests $4.29 Million in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Grant Private Wealth Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 17,113 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $4,285,000. Apple accounts for about 4.6% of Grant Private Wealth Management Inc's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,999,145,000 after acquiring an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,099,411 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $24,566,054,000 after acquiring an additional 3,156,680 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,290,044 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $14,847,413,000 after purchasing an additional 674,991 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Down 1.4%

Apple stock traded down $2.75 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $196.45. 51,345,532 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 54,742,937. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's 50 day moving average is $201.76 and its 200-day moving average is $223.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 price objective (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.

Apple Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.